A mom has revealed how her 7-year-old son became addicted to computer games with his personality changing so much he now attends a special school.
Jake, 9, and from Hertfordshire, just north of London, began using an iPad when he was just 5. Around the same time he’d also borrow his older brother’s game consoles.
But it was his parents’ decision to buy him his own for his seventh birthday which really caused problems.
To cut costs they let him use his siblings’ games even though they were not appropriate for his age.
Jake’s mom, who asked not to be named, told The Sun Online: “His addiction to technology had most definitely caused an erratic change of behavior and it had turned our lives upside down.”
“Due to the convenience, and expense to a certain extent, we stupidly allowed him to play the games his brothers had, instead of buying him new ones suitable for his age range.”
“To our own fault, and misjudgment, Jake began to play games over 16 and 18 rated games from as young as just seven.”
“We didn’t think twice about him playing these games, or playing on apps from our family iPad, until it was too late.”
“Due to the violent nature of the games he had been playing, he began swearing regularly, despite the fact he didn’t even know what the words even meant – he’d just picked them up from the appalling language of the characters.”
“It got to the stage where he was playing on his games console and tablet for at least six hours a day, consistently, without a break, except to eat and drink in the school holidays, and not much less than that when he was back at school.”
The couple’s story comes as it was revealed children as young as 12 are being treated for technology addiction at The Nightingale Hospital in London.
According to OFCOM — the UK’s version of the FCC — using the internet has overtaken TV watching as UK kids’ favorite pastime. Last year it was revealed that kids aged three to four spend over eight hours a week on electric devices – a huge rise of 26 percent compared to 2015.
And in 2015, a survey by Tech and Play found a quarter of under threes had their own media device, like a tablet of console.
Jake’s parents were stunned by the impact his gaming addiction had on his personality.
His mom explained: “When trying to get him off of his games console, or the tablet, it would be incredibly difficult.”
“He would kick off, scream and shout, throwing temper tantrums until he inevitably got his own way and could stay on it for longer.”
“Most of the time we allowed him half an hour longer for an easy life, but this has really backfired now.”
“Particularly when he’d be playing ‘internationally’ online with players from around the world, he would become uncontrollably aggressive, temperamental, rude and unable to communicate in a polite and civil manner, which he did as a young boy.”
The couple has two older boys and Jake’s problem made the whole family dynamic strained.
His troublesome behavior meant his brothers didn’t want to play with him as much, seeing him as an annoyance, and he’d refuse to leave the house because he was only interested in gaming.
As he took up so much of his parents’ time, the older boys often felt left out.
Jake’s temper was uncontrollable, with his tantrums increasingly aggressive.
In the end, his mom realized she could no longer control him.
Her breaking point came when she tried to get him off his tablet so he could have lunch, and he became aggressive, swearing and screaming at her.
She recalled: “He threw a cushion at me whilst standing at the cooker boiling some food. This was the breaking point.”
“I stood in my kitchen in tears, and knew we, as a family, needed to change because we simply just couldn’t carry on the way we were going because one of us would have broken down.”
Jake’s mom isn’t alone.
A survey of 720 people by online marketplace OnBuy found 94 percent of parents think their kids spend too much time on electronic devices every day.
That begs the question of why so many let their kids log on.
When asked that, 33 percent of parents admitted it’s an easy way to keep their children quiet while they’re busy.
Other reasons including only letting little ones use devices for educational reasons, with 22 percent saying they helped they wind down.
Jake’s behavior became so bad he had to be taken out of his school as his teachers couldn’t control him.
Now at a special school, things are improving.
He’s been there for two years and has strict rules about the amount of time he can spend on tech – maximum an hour a day, and only for educational purposes.
He is allowed on a console or iPad for brief periods if he’s been good during the week, something his mom and dad wish they’d put in place from the start.
While the school isn’t specifically for kids with tech addiction, Jake’s parents are sure his problems were caused by it.
He was so focused on gaming he spent huge swathes of time not interacting with anyone, which caused him to have problems communicating with others.
While Jake’s behavior has now dramatically improved, many kids are still struggling.
London charity PAARS (Parent Abuse and Reconciliation Service) helps parents and carers who suffer abuse from kids, and has seen a rise in kids becoming addicted to tech.
Boss Joe Letteri said: “We have seen a sudden increase in the number of children verbally abusing their parents or carers, or even physically hitting them, when they take devices away from them, or turn the internet off to prevent usage.”
“Children are turning aggressive and taking their anger out on their parents, and smashing walls or doors to vent their frustration at not being allowed access to their digital devices because they are so ‘addicted’.”